The Lines Become Blurred
by cypsiman2
Summary: Late one night at the Land of Departure, Ven says something to Aqua that causes the both of them to realize that the relationship between them is far more complex then either would have imagined.  Aqua/Ven, VenQua


The Lines Become Blurred

* * *

"Ven!" Aqua called out as she made her way down the steps into the courtyard of The Land of Departure. "Ven, that's enough!" It was past midnight, and with the new moon hanging in the sky, the stars shined even more brightly than usual. But it wasn't the stars that held Aqua's attention, it was Ventus, training well past the point of sanity.

"It's okay Aqua," He said as he gasped for air, "Just a few more minutes, and I'll have this move all worked out." Ventus's motions were sluggish, and as he tossed his key blade at the hanging target, it was clear that he'd badly misjudged the necessary angle. And yet, he refused to give up.

"Ven," Aqua said as she got closer to the boy, her tone indicative of how tired she herself was, "The Strike Raid's a tricky attack, and there's no reason to try and rush your way through it; even Terra and I haven't worked it out yet."

"But Aqua, that's because you two have learned lots of other techniques I haven't even gotten started on yet." Ventus was vaguely aware that Aqua was right next to him now, and so he turned away, not wanting her to see the bags under his eyes, giving her the wrong impression altogether. "Honest, I'll be done soon, and I'll be able to sleep a lot better with this under my belt." He cracked a smile, hoping that that would be enough to convince Aqua.

"Ventus." Aqua said as she took a firm grip on his shoulders, looking directly at the bags under his eyes. "You need to go to your room, and get some sleep. You can resume practice in the morning, after you've had some breakfast."

"No thank you, Mom!" Ventus cringed the moment the word came out of his mouth; it wasn't just that his petulance proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Aqua had been right, but now…there was that look on her face.

"Ven," Aqua said as she let go of Ventus, taking a step back to put some space between them. "Is that…Is that really how you see me?"

"I…" It was no good; Ventus's voice was caught in his throat, and seeing the hurt in Aqua's expression didn't help at all. "I just…" Having no idea of what to say, or even how to say anything at all, Ventus ran for his room.

Aqua looked down at herself, trying to assure herself that what Ventus said only stung as much as it did due to mutual exhaustion, that in the morning she would realize how badly she was overreacting. Somehow, her heart did not believe that at all.

* * *

"All right you two," Terra said as he looked at Aqua and Ventus from across the breakfast table, "what happened?" The whole morning they'd been stiff and unnatural in their interactions, and while Terra was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, assume that they were just a bit groggy like he was, enough was enough.

"Eh?" Ventus said, clearly trying to come up with an excuse, a lie; what the heck could he be trying to cover like this?

"Uhm, why would you think something happened, Terra?" Aqua said, a bit more on the ball, but equally transparent in all ways except the one that Terra could have used.

"Neither of you will look at each other, and the most conversation either of you've had with each other this morning was when Aqua asked for the salt. Now come on guys, fess up, it couldn't possibly be all that bad."

"Sorry Terra." Ventus said as he stood up and pushed his chair away, leaving behind a half-finished plate of breakfast, "I need to get to my practice right away." Even though he was looking away from both Terra and Aqua, the crimson blush on his face was painfully obvious. He jogged away, leaving Aqua and Terra alone together.

Terra looked intently at Aqua. "Well?"

Aqua pursed her lip, her embarrassment visible in her eyes. "…Last night, I was having a little trouble sleeping, so I went for a short walk. I saw Ven training out in the courtyard, and he looked absolutely exhausted. So I tried to get him to come back inside, go to bed, you know? But he was being really stubborn, and so I put my foot down, and then he…" Aqua was hesitant, but she knew that she had to say it at some point, and between Terra and Master Eraqus, she knew who she'd rather share this with. "He, he said 'no thank you, mom!'." With that, her face acquired the same shade of red that Ventus's had when he'd left.

Terra was silent as he took this in, processing it… "Well, if it's any consolation Aqua, sometimes you act like you're my mom. Not often, but its happened." Terra chuckled as Aqua squirmed in her seat; this was a definite reversal in dynamic for them, but as much as he would like to have enjoyed it, he had to do his part to resolve this situation. "Look, you know how sometimes I'll say you're such a girl sometimes?" Aqua irritably blew at a strand of blue hair, evidence to Terra that he was on the right track. "Well, to Ven, I don't think it's ever just 'sometimes'; we're the only real family he's got, and if he ever had one before, he certainly doesn't remember it. Master Eraqus and I are lucky, since there are two of us, he gets to be the 'dad' and I get to be the 'big brother', but you…well, you're the only girl Ven really knows, so sometimes you're his friend, sometimes his big sister, and occasionally, his mom."

"You really think that's it Terra?" Aqua had to admit, she'd never really thought about the nature of the relationship between the three of them. It just…was. But Terra did have a point, which in all honesty he usually did. Still, it wasn't like this was entirely new to her, she recognized that she'd implicitly known something like it all along. "But, then why is this bothering us so much? I mean, we both know he doesn't literally think of me as his mom."

"Well…" Terra felt like he was standing on thin ice; truth be told, he had a few inklings for why what should have just been an embarrassing incident had taken on such dimensions, but if Aqua had been so mortified at the thought of Ven thinking of her in a maternal light…

* * *

"Ventus, is something the matter?"

Ventus did not look up at Master Eraqus; he knew that this was incredibly rude, but he didn't want someone who was like a dad to him to see how petulant he was being. Of course, that thought brought to mind what had brought about this whole situation to begin with, which just made it worse all over again!

"Ventus." Master Eraqus folded down on his knees, and gently tugged Ventus's face so that they were looking at each other. "Did Terra or Aqua say anything to upset you?"

"What?" Ventus's eyes grew incredibly wide. "No! I just…I said something stupid to Aqua last night." Ventus sighed as he realized he was going to have to explain the whole thing to Master Eraqus. "I was up really really late, working on mastering the Strike Raid technique." Yep, there was the arched eyebrow that Ventus was expecting. "I know, it's a difficult technique and not even Terra or Aqua have worked out all the tricks to it just yet. But everyone knows I have a natural talent for wind based magic, so I thought that if I worked really really hard, I could master it early and…I don't know, maybe be considered for the Mark of Mastery at the same time as Terra and Aqua."

"But Aqua caught me, and I was really tired, and I wouldn't listen to her when she told me to get back to bed, so I…" By all the light in all the worlds, this was so embarrassing! "I acted like a child and told her 'no thank you, mom!'." Despite the continued presence of Eraqus's hand, Ventus jerked his face away to avoid the inevitable look of disappointment on the Master's face.

"Hmm, I see." Master Eraqus ran his finger along the scar on his cheek. "I have to admit, I've never done anything quite like that, but I do know what it's like to be young and to inadvertently say something stupid and hurtful to someone that you care for deeply. The important thing is to go let Aqua know how you really feel as soon as possible." Master Eraqus said this with a smile that Ventus could not help but find suspicious.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly what I said. You claimed that you were being childish, but I think you were being unduly harsh on yourself. Even after I became an adult and a full-fledged Keyblade Master besides, that didn't stop me from sticking my foot in my mouth on more than one occasion. Just remember that your relationship with Aqua is more than strong enough to handle a little misstep like this, hmm?"

"Yes…you, you're right, Master Eraqus." Ventus stood up, bowed to him, and made his way back to the dining room. Still, he couldn't help but feel that Master Eraqus was…nudging him? But, that didn't make sense…right?

* * *

"Ven!" Aqua had been walking down the hall, in the direction that Ventus had gone when he'd left the dining room to begin with. The idea that Terra had suggested as the reason behind the sheer uncomfortableness between her and Ventus following his outburst…looking at Ventus now, in the hallway, half of her thought that Terra was being absolutely crazy! "Look, about last night, I shouldn't have taken what you said so personally. Sometimes I can be a bit motherly to you, and I should be more aware of that." There, she'd said it. Now it wouldn't be long before things were back to normal in The Land of Departure.

"Um, actually, Aqua," Ventus said, just a bit fidgety, "I, I didn't quite mean it like that." Ventus screwed some focus together. "You, you mean a lot, of a lot of different things to me, and sometimes it gets a bit mixed up. Really, last night…I just wanted to show you and Terra that I was like you guys, and it felt like you were…you were holding me back. I'm sorry I said what I did, and I don't think of you like that, not really."

"Oh." And it was at times like this, when Ventus was being so…Ventus, that there was that other half to Aqua that thought that Terra made perfect sense. "Well, let's go back and finish breakfast, and then we can work on the Strike Raid together?"

"Yeah, sure thing!" Ventus said with an eager smile, and the thought of training together, with just Aqua, made that smile even easier than it usually was.


End file.
